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Leaders of Belarus, Vietnam want bilateral trade to rise to $1 billion

Vietnamese leader Nguyen Minh Triet said on Friday that he and Alyaksandr Lukashenka want bilateral annual trade to rise to $1 billion, as quoted by BelaPAN.

The politician made the remark while meeting with Barys Batura, chairman of the Council of the Republic, in Minsk.

Trade between Belarus and Vietnam amounted to $114.7 million last year.

Economic relations between Belarus and Vietnam are "modest" at present and the two countries are ready to contribute to the development of bilateral investment cooperation and help each other promote its goods in their regions, the Vietnamese president said.

Mr. Batura noted close political contacts between the two countries and their cooperation in the international arena. Vietnam is a priority partner among Southeast Asian countries for Belarus, he stressed.

"We have a high interstate level of cooperation, which is evidenced by your visit. I am certain that [your] talks with the Belarusian president, meeting with government officials will become an important stage of consistent cooperation between the countries. We are ready to discuss any issues," Mr. Batura said.